Corps left off the hook for Katrina flooding

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A surprise ruling by a federal appeals court that lets the Army Corps of Engineers off the hook for paying compensation for Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic flooding isn't going over well on the streets of New Orleans.

People in southern Louisiana have long taken for granted that the flooding in the wake of the 2005 storm was a manmade disaster. And they have wanted the corps to pay up for lost homes and property. But on Monday, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier opinion and said the federal government is immune from such lawsuits.

Alvin Alexis, a 62-year-old resident who had two cousins die in the floods, says he believes Katrina is the perfect example of a case where the federal government can be sued.